Patio & paving designs

Pavers of different colours can be used to imprint an image within the design. (Close-up of an aged brick paved courtyard image by Piter Pkruger from Fotolia.com)

The design for your patio and paving is going to depend upon the material you use as well as the purpose you have in store. Certain choices of paving material are not as suitable as others, and the design you choose also can come with certain safety considerations. An important element in choosing your design will be a pleasing aesthetic, and those who want to express their creativity have several options for taking the task to the limits of their imagination.

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Brick Patterns

Bricks are one of the most versatile of materials for creating a pattern. The means in which the bricks are laid horizontally or vertically to each creates established patterns with names such as ladder weave, whorling square and herringbone. This flexibility of bricks makes them ideal for laying down a path in a pattern that is repeated to a larger degree in your patio area.

Concrete Round Path

A concrete round paving path can lead to your patio in a simple design. Round steps made of concrete can be set into a bed of loose gravel to create a useful if not particularly imaginative path. One way to lend some colour to this paving design is to quite literally colour the concrete rounds. Another way to add some vibrancy is to stagger the concrete rounds while placing them close enough to each other to allow the right foot to follow one side and the left foot to follow the other in an easy walking manner.

Patio Circles and Squares

Your concrete rounds can lead directly to a patio constructed from concrete pavers with a design that utilises circles and square. The option exists of buying precast concrete patio pavers or making them yourself with a mould that allows for a degree of customisation. An elegant concrete pattern would place a small square inside a circle of four large circular stones.

Flagstone Pavers

Flagstone pavers can be buried directly into the ground to lead to a flagstone patio. Design options include laying down a straight path of similarly sized and shaped flagstones, a staggered set of steps that are each constructed of four small squares set into a larger square pattern or randomly sized flagstones that benefit from the contrasting growth of green grass between them. Flagstone offers the same kind of diversity for use in patio design. Because this particular building material tends to create an irregular surface, flagstone patio installation is better left to professionals.

Whimsical Molded Pavers

A slightly whimsical approach to patio path paving involves a little work. The author of "Patios and Walkways" suggests recycling your old pillow cushions by lathering them with petroleum jelly and applying plaster of Paris to create a mould. Once the plaster hardens, take out the cushions and pour cement into the moulds. The ultimate result when painted are concrete pavers that look exactly like cushions. Lay them down in a design as creative as their creation by spacing them far enough apart that people have to jump just a little to get from paver to paver.

Customised Patio Molds

The patio to which the cushion-simulated pavers lead should also reflect a certain level of imaginative design. The best method for creating a patio creatively is to either use prefabricated mouldings or to create your original design that you translate into a mould. The pattern of your patio will depend upon the shape of the pavers that you get from your mould. Circular moulds can be used to create a vortex design for you patio. Rectangles of various sizes can be designed to mimic those notable brick patterns. Another way to go is to draw a geometric shape in the concrete before it hardens and then lay down your patio to reflect that particular geometric shape.